News

Home Gets Hacked

A news report in today from Telegraph details how Sony's brand new social interactive world software, Home, has apparently been hacked. Two specific hacks allow users to watch their own movies, alter in-game text and music, and also download files from the Home servers.

One hack uses a combination of the Apache web server and DNS re-direction to allow users of PlayStation Home to watch their own movies on display screens within the game, and change text and music to whatever they choose.

A second hack enables players to download any file they want from PlayStation Home's servers, such as a fellow user's profile or avatar, the cartoon-like representation of themselves they create to appear in the virtual world.

But the most worrying vulnerability found in the Home software is the security loophole that allows tech-savvy users to upload any file to the Home server, or delete any file from the Home server. It raises the spectre of malicious hackers spreading viruses and malware across the PlayStation Home platform, or even launching sustained attacks on the virtual world's servers to force it offline.

Home recently launched on December 11th and is available to all PlayStation 3 users.